Orthopedic Assessment & Diagnosis Flashcards

A patient has a positive Ober's test with limited hip adduction in sidelying. This finding suggests tightness of which structure?

Answer: Iliotibial band and tensor fasciae latae

Ober's test assesses iliotibial band and tensor fasciae latae flexibility; limited hip adduction in the test position indicates tightness of these structures.

During cervical assessment, a patient's radicular symptoms are reproduced by ipsilateral lateral flexion and rotation with axial compression. This describes:

Answer: Spurling's test

Spurling's test (cervical compression with ipsilateral lateral flexion and rotation) narrows the neural foramen and reproduces cervical radiculopathy symptoms.

A 30-year-old soccer player reports medial knee pain with joint line tenderness and pain during McMurray's test with valgus stress and external rotation. The MOST likely diagnosis is:

Answer: Medial meniscus tear

McMurray's test with valgus stress and external tibial rotation specifically loads the medial meniscus, and a positive test with joint line pain indicates a medial meniscus tear.

Which reflex, if absent, is MOST consistent with an L4 nerve root lesion?

Answer: Patellar reflex

The patellar (knee jerk) reflex is primarily mediated by the L4 nerve root, and its absence suggests L4 radiculopathy.

The FABER test (Flexion, ABduction, External Rotation) is used to assess which structures?

Answer: Hip joint and sacroiliac joint

FABER test stresses both the hip joint (anterior capsule, labrum) and the sacroiliac joint, making it a useful screen for both pathologies.

A patient presents with forearm pain and a positive Finkelstein's test. Which diagnosis is MOST consistent?

Answer: De Quervain's tenosynovitis

Finkelstein's test (ulnar deviation with thumb in fist) stretches the first dorsal compartment tendons (APL and EPB) and is pathognomonic for De Quervain's tenosynovitis.

When evaluating shoulder impingement, which test specifically implicates the supraspinatus tendon by positioning the arm at 90° forward flexion with internal rotation?

Answer: Hawkins-Kennedy test

The Hawkins-Kennedy test (arm at 90° flexion, internally rotated) impinges the supraspinatus under the coracoacromial ligament, reproducing subacromial impingement symptoms.